Blowing Hot and Cold

Beautiful sunny morning, I shot this robin sitting on one of our four foot square fans. We fitted them to the glasshouses to keep the carnations cool. We found a budgie inside the metal cage of one of these and installed one, not wired to function, in our our retail area so that the bird could live there. Someone reported us to the RSPCA and a representative was sent to investigate. As if we would keep a bird in a cage with huge fan blades whizzing round? :rolleyes:

I know robins are everywhere and often photographed but I like this image as it looks a bit like some of the robin cartoons I have seen, a ball with a pair of stick-like legs. I love the way the sunlight is revealing its dappled lower breast.

This afternoon was dull and as I left to go for a walk at Fishers Green, the wind got up and sleet stung my face. 

"The North wind doth blow and we shall have snow,
And what will poor robin do then, poor thing?
He'll sit in a barn and keep himself warm
and hide his head under his wing, poor thing."

I put my stupid, furry trapper hat on but didn't fancy walking far so I ducked into the Bittern Hide. I was alone at first but then a few people came in hoping to see the bittern go to roost. I recognised a female voice. It was a nice woman my swimming mates and I used to chat to. She is a knowledgeable wildlife journalist but has yet to see a bittern. No luck for us today but we did see a water rail and watched a pair of Muntjac paddling in Seventy Acres Lake.

I got chatting to a man who comes all the way from Tottenham to walk his dogs. He says that a lot of his local dogs are rather intimidating. I'm going to look on his Flickr as he has golden eagle shots.